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She And Him

Classics

Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward (tka She & Him) have shared information for their latest album, Classics. The 13-track collection of "carefully-selected, timeless standards" is duo's first album for the major label; their previous four albums, most recently last year's Volume 3, came out via Merge Records.

As previously reported, the pair recorded the covers album live alongside a 20-piece orchestra, "allowing a spontaneity that captured the spirit of the songs in their truest forms." As Deschanel explained, "It was a dream of ours to record these songs in a way that highlighted the brilliance of the songwriting and the beauty of their melodies."

1. Stars Fell On Alabama 2. Oh No, Not My Baby3. It's Not For Me To Say4. Stay Awhile5. This Girl's In Love With You6. Time After Time7. She8. Teach Me Tonight9. It's Always You10. Unchained Melody (Feat. The Chapin Sisters)11. I'll Never Be Free12. Would You Like To Take A Walk?13. We'll Meet Again

Volume Three

With fourteen songs-11 Deschanel originals and three covers-Volume 3 is an effortlessly effervescent, bleached-out-in-the-sun pop record. The album features some of the most dynamic, complex songs Deschanel has ever written, allowing for tempo shifts, disco grooves, string arrangements on multiple tracks, and horn flourishes that perfectly suit the She & Him sound. Produced by M. Ward and recorded in Los Angeles, Portland, and New York City, Volume 3 features guest contributions from NRBQ's Joey Spampinato, Mike Watt, Tilly and the Wall, Pierre de Reeder from Rilo Kiley, and Tom Hagerman from Devotchka.

Since the release of the band's album Volume Two in 2010, much has happened to both She and to Him. Deschanel, whose television show New Girl has cemented her status as a sitcom star, continued to hone her songwriting skills, writing the theme song for her new show in addition to being nominated for a GRAMMY for Best Original Song for the movie Winnie the Pooh. She wrote songs for Volume 3 during small pockets of downtime while filming New Girl, as Ward toured the world behind his latest solo creation, A Wasteland Companion, which was released to massive critical acclaim last year. Together and separately, the duo has sold over a million albums domestically-a testament to their classic sonic arrangements, their rich, incomparable voices, and their ability to craft pitch-perfect, Brill Building-esque choruses around timeless, universal themes

Volume One

She & Him is a story of musical serendipity: two artists, each renowned in their own creative fields, meet and recognize a certain shared nostalgia. The result is destined to be one of the musical highlights of the year.

Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward first met to record a version of Richard and Linda Thompson's When I Get To The Border for a movie soundtrack. Immediately struck by one another's talents and finding an instant rapport Zooey let slip that she wrote her own songs which she recorded alone at home on her computer. Somewhat shy about anyone hearing these musical morsels she eventually sent the demos to Ward who was instantly impressed. They soon reconvened at his Portland studio to begin work.

Embracing the warm sound of early analog recordings, Volume One is more than just a showcase for Zooey's rich and endearing voice; it's a distinctive and endlessly charming album. The songs themselves give a respectful nod to the likes of Dusty Springfield, Linda Ronstadt and The Zombies while Ward's production gives them just the right amount of golden era sheen. Whether Zooey's channeling Ronnie Spector as on I Was Made For You or joining Ward in turning The Beatles I Should Have Known Better into a seductive hula guitar duet, the results are always captivating.

Volume Two

She & Him make music for an eternal springtime, when the temperature is warm enough to go riding with the top (or at least the windows) rolled down and the radio turned up. They occupy an alternate universe where the saddest of songs feel as warm as sun showers; the rain may be coming down, but somewhere nearby, everything looks bright. What began as a fascinating, no-strings attached collaboration on 2008's Volume One has evolved into a bonafide touring band, and She & Him are here to stay.

Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward are as comfortable and complementary a musical pair as Les Paul and Mary Ford; hearing them again on Volume Two feels like getting together with two old friends. This time, the harmonies have grown more angelically layered, the string arrangements more dramatic, the songwriting even sharper and more confident. But as with Volume One, the prevailing mood is bittersweet, dreamy and romantic. All songs (except 4 and 7) written by Zooey Deschanel. Produced by M. Ward.

1. Thieves2. In the Sun3. Don't Look Back4. Ridin' In My Car5. Lingering Still6. Me and You7. Gonna Get Along Without You Now8. Home

Christmas Party

Christmas Party is the new holiday album from She & Him, the duo comprised of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward. Christmas Party is the follow up to their wildly popular A Very She And Him Christmas, and this new collection features guest appearances by Jenny Lewis, The Chapin Sisters and Sonic Youth's Steve Shelley.

Christmas Party is replete with holiday favorites - including classics like Darlene Love and Phil Spector's Marshmallow World, Bing Crosby's Mele Kalikimaka and Chuck Berry's Run Run Rudolph. But, Ward and Deschanel also may introduce listeners to the more obscure tracks such as folk-singer Vashti Bunyon's Coldest Night of the Year and the lesser know Sinatra track Christmas Memories. Pop favorites such as Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas Is You and The Chipmunks Christmas Don't Be Late round out the celebration. Throughout the album is She & Him's signature stripped down take on production.

It was the positive experience they had recording their first Christmas record, A Very She & Him Christmas, in 2011 that brought M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel back for another round of holiday cheer. Much like their first Christmas record, She & Him bring an organic and minimalistic approach to their holiday covers. Highly produced classics get stripped down to their most fundamental elements, a style perfectly aligned with their vision. You won't find any accompanying orchestra or full-piece brass bands on Christmas Party. Instead, She & Him rely on friends and family to lend a simple and authentic holiday vibe to this album, one where the guest list speaks for itself.

In the years between the two holiday records, She & Him released Vol. 3, an album of original songs, and kept their affection for covers alive with Classics, a compilation of covers of their favorite standards. Throughout these intervening years and albums, Zooey and Ward gradually culled a new collection of holiday songs to re-interpret, tucking them away like a stack of presents growing under a tree. As Christmas Party comes to a close, the listener can take solace in knowing the door on this gathering is never fully shut. The sing-alongs, the happy accidents, the quiet moments with loved ones - they're all waiting for you whenever you wish to immerse yourself in the splendor of the season. As Ward himself says, Music is one of the purest ways into Christmas.

1. All I Want for Christmas Is You 2. Let It Snow3. Must Be Santa4. Happy Holiday5. Mele Kalikimaka6. Christmas Memories7. Run Run Rudolph8. Winter Wonderland9. The Coldest Night of the Year10. A Marshmallow World11. The Man with the Bag12. Christmas Don't Be Late

She & Him

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Songs For Rounders

The late 50s. A time of crushing conformity. Of well-manicured lawns, white picket fences, and men in grey flannel suits. Not in Hank Thompsons world. With its tales of drunkenness, prostitution , drug abuse, gambling and vagrancynot to mention one of the most notorious album covers in the history not just of country music, but of all popular musicThompsons 1959 LP Songs for Rounders remains one of countrys most essential albums. It all startedwhen Thompson brought Ken Nelson, Capitols head of country A&R at the time, a song he often featured in his live performances called Cocaine Blues. Nelson told him there was no way the song would ever get any airplay as a single, but suggested it might work as part of an album concept.Thompson then proceeded to round up a collection of tunes taken from every walk of American popular song and every walk of American lifelike the walk taken in Dallas red light district in Deep Elm. The spirit of the album even extended to the photo shoot. After the cover shots were taken in the morning, Thompson spent the rest of the day in the studio recording. He then went down the street to a bar and found one of the women who had posed with him. She had been drinking since the shoot had ended. She didnt even remember him. This Real Gone vinyl reissue offers the optimum way to experience this landmark album. Remastered by Maria Triana at Battery Studios in New York, cut by Peter Black at FM Mastering, and and manufactured on 160-gram vinyl at Bill Smith Custom Records, this release features the stereo mix of Songs for Rounders, as this record was not only Hanks first stereo recording but also one of the earliest country albums to be released in stereo (just wait til you hear some of those sparkling Merle Travis leads)!

And, we have included an album-size insert with a full-color reproduction of the album cover suitable for framing on one side and notes from Grammy®-winning liner note writer Colin Escott on the other. Essential American music released in its original format, with improved packaging to boot.

Devil Music

Randall Bramblett's latest release, Devil Music, is built upon a foundation of R&B and Soul, but this album spreads its wings with Rock & Roll fervor and a willingness to improvise. Devil Music was inspired by the biography, Moanin' At Midnight: The Life and Times Of Howlin' Wolf . In the book, Hubert Sumlin tells a story of Howlin' Wolf crying all the way from Mississippi to Chicago. Wolf and his band had been on tour when they decided to make a stop at his boyhood home in White Station, Mississippi. Wolf wanted to take his mama money and show her who he'd become. She opened the door, saw who it was and she slammed the door in Wolf's face. She told him she didn't want his money and didn't want anything to do with him. Wolf played "Devil Music."

Dead Fingers

Taylor Hollingsworth and Kate Taylor singing together is a match made in heaven. You might know Taylor from previous solo albums or bands but most likely from Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band. He was the guitar player who also wrote and sang Snake Hill and Air Mattress on the album Outer South. If youve seen Maria Taylor play then you have most likely seen Kate in her band either playing keys, drums, or bass, and most importantly, harmonizing the soft beautiful background melodies. Nowadays, Kate and Taylor have joined forces in the band Dead Fingers.

In a time when guy-girl duos are becoming quite popular, this one is not just some gimmick, however perfect the timing and package may be. In fact, this Alabama duo are recently married and the two just recorded their first self titled full-length with Bruce Watson (RL Burnside, Junior Kimbrough , AA Bondy), and it is being released on Big Legal Mess/Fat Possum Records.

While showing a wide range of styles, ranging from duet styled songs like those of John Prine and Iris DeMent, X, or Lee Hazelwood and Ann Margaret, to straight up great classic rock bands like the Stones, Beatles, or even Traveling Wilburys, this band should find a nice home with fans of more current duos like She and Him, Jenny and Johnny and Civil Wars.

1. Closet Full of Bones2. Another Planet3. 4 Stone Coaches4. Hold On To5. Ring Around Saturn6. Please Don't Let Me Go7. Against The River8. On My Way9. Lost In Mississippi10. Never Be My Man11. Wheels and Gasoline

A Friend In The World

Portland based Lovers fuse intimacy and empowerment into a modern atmosphere of honesty, new feminist humor, and rhythmic complexity. The result is at once confident, tender and romantic. The follow-up to their best-selling 2010 release Darklight, A Friend in the World is a rich engagement of acoustic and electronic extroversion and introspection--an uplifting ride into uncharted territories of the heart and mind.

1. Tiger Square2. Girl In The Grass3. Modern Art Museum Of The Modern Kiss Goodbye4. Oh Yeah5. Purple Sage6. Wander Through The Time Of Hearts7. Lavender Light8. Rocket Ship9. James Baldwin And The Diagonal Trance10. Wild Horses

Acid Tongue

Jenny Lewis Acid Tongue on 2LP + CD Set!

Vinyl Pressed at RTI!

Femme fatale Jenny Lewis has never sounded so passionate and her songs never so hard-hitting and acerbic as on her aptly titled sophomore solo release, 2008's Acid Tongue. The album follows 2006s well received Rabbit Fur Coat and a series of acclaimed albums with Rilo Kiley. Featuring collaborations with She & Him and guest appearances by Elvis Costello and Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes, Acid Tongue proves to be a can't miss release.

This vinyl package features two standard weight black-vinyl discs produced and pressed at RTI in a double-gatefold jacket with a bonus CD in a paper sleeve. The discs contain three sides of audio and a special etching on the fourth side.

Lewis is indie rock's most sharp-elbowed songwriter, a crafter of taut meditations on love, sex and politics that are full of violent emotions and, occasionally, plain old violence. There's plenty of storminess on her excellent second solo album, whose songs mix muscular guitar rock (The Next Messiah) with soul balladeering (Sing a Song for Them) and chamber pop (Black Sand). --Jody Rosen, Rolling Stone, October 2, 2008

More Rain

M. Ward has released a string of acclaimed solo albums over the pastseveral years, along with five LPs with Zooey Deschanel as She & Himand a 2009 collaborative album with My Morning Jacket's Jim Jamesand Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis under the monikerMonsters of Folk. In addition to his celebrated work as a musician,Ward is an accomplished producer, handling those duties for suchluminaries as Mavis Staples, Jenny Lewis, and Carlos Forster as well ashis own musical projects.

More Rain, Ward's eighth solo affair, finds the artist picking up thetempo and volume a bit from his previous release, 2012's A WastelandCompanion. Where that record introspectively looked in from theoutside, More Rain finds Ward on the inside, gazing out. Begun fouryears ago and imagined initially as a DIY doo-wop album that wouldfeature Ward experimenting with layering his own voice, it soonbranched out in different directions, a move that he credits largely tohis collaborators here who include R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, Neko Case,k.d. lang, The Secret Sisters, and Joey Spampinato of NRBQ. Theresult is a collection of upbeat, sonically ambitious yet canonicallyfamiliar songs that both propel Ward's reach and satisfy longtime fans.

Live 1980/86

30th Anniversary Edition Featuring New Live Versions Of Is She Really Going Out With Him? And Many More Hits

Joe Jackson is an English musician, singer-songwriter who scored a major hit in 1979 with his first release Is She Really Going Out With Him.

Live 1980/86 is a double live LP which was recorded during the 1980 Beat Crazy tour, the 1982-83 Night and Day Tour, the 1984 Body and Soul tour and the 1986 Big World tour. These performances took place in Manchester, Utrecht, Sydney, Melbourne, Vancouver and Tokyo. During the four tours Jackson goes through different periods in his songwriter's career, each time using a new backing band. Live 1980/86 charted in the United Kingdom, USA, The Netherlands, Australia and contains the live acoustic and a cappella versions of Is She Really Going Out With Him, It's Different For Girls, Steppin' Out and features new interpretations of classic hits from Joe Jackson's vast repertoire.

The Live 1980/86 double album, originally released in 1988, celebrates it's 30th Anniversary in 2018 and the 180-gram records are housed in 2 printed inner sleeves.

LP 11. One To One

2. I'm The Man

3. Beat Crazy

4. Is She Really Going Out With Him? 5. Don't Wanna Be Like That 6. Got The Time 7. On Your Radio 8. Fools In Love 9. Cancer 10. Is She Really Going Out With Him? (Acapella Version) 11. Look Sharp!

LP 21. Sunday Papers 2. Real Men 3. Is She Really Going Out With Him? (Acoustic Version) 4. Memphis 5. A Slow Song 6. Be My Number Two

7. Breaking Us In Two 8. It's Different For Girls 9. You Can't Get What You Want ('till You Know What You Want)10. Jumpin' Jive 11. Steppin' Out

Dad Loves His Work

Import

Dad Loves His Work is singer-songwriter James Taylor's tenth studio album. Released in 1981, it is best remembered for the duet with J. D. Souther Her Town Too, which reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Top 5 of Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. I Will Follow, London Town and the haunting That Lonesome Road are additional album tracks. This album was certified Platinum in the United States.

The album's title was, in part, drawn from the reasons for Taylor's divorce from Carly Simon. She gave him an ultimatum: cut back on his music and touring, and spend more time with her and their children, or the marriage was through. The album's title was his answer, and the divorce took place soon after.

1. Hard Times2. Her Town Too3. Hour That the Morning Comes4. I Will Follow5. Believe It or Not6. Stand and Fight7. Only for Me8. Summer's Here9. Sugar Trade10. London Town11. That Lonesome Road

James Taylor

$34.99

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Joe Jackson - Collected

180-Gram Audiophile Vinyl

Gatefold Sleeve

High-Quality PVC Protective Sleeve

Featuring ''Fools In Love'', ''Is She Really Going Out With Him?'' And ''It's Different For Girls''

Joe Jackson's debut single, ''Is She Really Going Out With Him?'', was not an immediate hit; however, by the time his debut album Look Sharp! was released, the song had reached charts in the U.K. and U.S., earning him a gold record. For the follow-up, he produced the top 5 hit ''It's Different For Girls'', Joe received the highest musical accolade of the Netherlands, the Edison Award.

After two edgy new wave pop records, his next tracks included some reggae influences such as the tracks ''One to One'' and ''Mad At You'', while ''Jumpin' Jive'' - recorded with jazz musicians - was full of old jump blues and swing tunes.

The huge commercial success came with his crafted pop songs ''Steppin' Out'' and jazzy ''Breaking Us In Two'' climbing the charts worldwide. Joe Jackson produced even jazzier hits in 1984 such as ''Happy Ending'', (a duet with Elaine Caswell), ''Be My Number Two'' and ''You Can't Get What You Want''.

The album Big World (1986), a live album of entirely new material including ''Home Town'', was recorded during six concerts. It is not a regular live album though, the audience was asked to be quiet during the songs and the applause was edited out.

The pop song ''Nineteen Forever'' was part of a larger construction from the album Blaze Of Glory, designed to tell a semi-autobiographical story. In 1991 Joe Jackson decided to abandon pop once and for all in favor of more serious music. It spawned the track ''Stranger Than Fiction''.

Joe Jackson - COLLECTED is a comprehensive series of sounds Joe Jackson has gone through, from old to new, this collection will never get boring!

LP 11. Fools In Love 2. Is She Really Going Out With Him?3. Look Sharp! 4. Got The Time 5. Sunday Papers6. It's Different For Girls 7. I'm The Man8. Mad At You 9. Beat Crazy 10. One To One11. The Harder They Come 12. Jumpin' Jive13. Another World 14. Steppin' Out

LP 21. Real Men 2. A Slow Song3. Breaking Us In Two4. Be My Number Two5. You Can't Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)6. Happy Ending (feat. Elaine Caswell)7. (He's A) Shape In A Drape 8. Nineteen Forever9. Stranger Than Fiction 10. Home Town (Live)11. Is She Really Going Out With Him? (A Capella Live)

Joe Jackson

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Soul Sick

There are artists who can command attention. They lean into their songs with an irresistible edge and total emotional connection and stay there. Sallie Ford is one of those artists. On her upcoming new album Soul Sick, out via Vanguard Records, Ford creates music that draws on all of her influences but still comes out her own. From the album's opening line "I woke up feeling sour on the sweetest summer day," the 11 tracks on the album chronicle Ford's journey through anxiety, insecurity, and depression.

"This is a 'confessional' album. It's about struggling with my issues - some that I've overcome and some that I still carry around. I felt confused, down about life and unsure of myself," states Ford. "On these new songs, it felt good to write on one theme and from one place. All in all, Soul Sick has taught me a lot about myself and helped me to heal."

That healing is captured throughout the music played on the album. With Mike Coykendall (M. Ward and She & Him) at the helm, it's laced with nostalgic feeling and produced to enhance that essence. "I asked Mike to produce, Ford says. "He loves old rock & roll and always records on tape, but he's also an experimenter, exploring new things with his music.

Soul Sick finds Ford further mining, updating and perfecting her vintage influences to stand alongside her uncompromising and confessional lyricism. On her first themed album, her doo-wop harmonies, slippery British invasion keyboards, and crunchy, fuzzed-out guitars back Ford's distinctive howl and surround her at-once intimate and confrontational musings on love, depression, and fear.

Gentleman

1973's Gentleman is the last of Fela's early 1970s transitional albums - it was followed by 1974's Alagbon Close, on which he brought all Afrobeat's signature ingredients together. On its title track, 1973's Gentleman presents one of Fela's most perfect lyrics, sung in call-and-response with the backing vocalists. "I no be gentleman at all," Fela sings, "Africa hot, I like am so; I know what to wear but my friend don't know; him put him socks him put him shoes; him put him pants him put him singlet; him put him trouser him put him shirt; him put him tie him put him coat; him come cover all with him hat; him be gentleman; him go sweat all over; him go faint right down .I no be gentleman at all-o; I be Africa man original." There's plenty more. As so often with Fela's songs, "Gentleman" can be interpreted literally or as metaphor concerning a wider issue. In this case, Fela's topic is the colonialism-induced inferiority complex which led many in Africa's new governing elites to reject African style, concepts of beauty and modes of behaviour in favour of European imports. It was a subject Fela returned to on 1976's Yellow Fever, whose title track attacked the craze for skin whitening creams among African women, and 1977's Johnny Just Drop, whose title track lampooned the social pretensions of Africans returning home after working or studying abroad. Gentleman's other tracks, "Fefe Naa Efe" and "Igbe," have briefer lyrics. On "Fefe Naa Efe," an Ashanti motto from Ghana, Fela tells a woman dumped by her boyfriend that she must get over the heartache and move on.

Mars Loves Venus

Originally released on CD in 2004 via New Zealand's Lil' Chief Records, Mars Loves Venus is The Brunettes' second full length release and the one that spring-boarded their eventual signing to SubPop Records. It was after their signing to SubPop that most folks first discovered the band as they toured with The Shins and Rilo Kiley, among others.

Their line up for Mars Loves Venus featured the dual vocals and multi-instrumental skills of Johathan Bree and Heather Mansfield, James Milne (Laurence Arabia) on guitar (among other instruments) and Ruby Suns front-man Ryan McPhun on drums and backing vocals. Now, finally on vinyl, the first 250 copies of Mars Loves Venus will be issued on a custom-blended split-color vinyl.

Mars Loves Venus is a super quirky, super cute and oddly sensual record. If you're a fan you know what we're talking about. If you're not, think She & Him, Mates Of State or even Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood.

Tramp

The shimmering sound of Tramp both defies and illuminates the unsteadiness of a life in flux. During the 14 months of scattered recording sessions, Sharon Van Etten was without a home, crashing with friends and spreading out her possessions between various locations. The only constant during this time was when Van Etten returned to the garage studio of The Nationals Aaron Dessner.

How much more incredible then that Tramp sounds so profoundly effortless and singular-minded. Given the space to experiment, Van Etten pushed herself deeper than ever before, testing different approaches and rejecting many. Van Ettens records have been subtle and powerful, at once heartbreaking, luminous, intricate and beautiful. Now lush and triumphant, this is a fresh vision, and Van Etten has realized it with the same grace that made her first two releases so enduring.

Van Ettens debut, Because I Was In Love, was a sparse set of solo songs, all anchored by her instantly unmistakable voice. The intricate, understated record covered so much emotional ground within its 33 minutes, you couldn't possibly absorb it all at once, nor stay too long in one place along its journey. The following year, Van Etten added a full band to her music. Fans quickly picked favorites, then found their choices changing, often more than once.

An early fan of Van Etten, Dessner performed epic closer Love More with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver. When Van Etten found out, she contacted him, and almost immediately collaborative plans were made. Dessner had just completed work on his studio, and offered up his new space, as well as his insight as a savvy producer. But with both artists near-nonstop touring schedule, recording days had to be spread out, a few days here, a couple weeks there, and a lot of floating and flying in between.

The resulting album is an assured and strident one, and Tramp showcases an artist in control of her powers, incorporating vivid arrangements and instrumentation into the songwriting. It is a startling collection, filled with as much defiant rock (the precise venom of Serpents), as pious, minimal beauty (the breathtaking Kevins and Joke or a Lie). There are declarative hymns (in the earnest solemnity of All I Can), and remarkably sultry numbers (as in Magic Chords). Tramp features many stupendous guests, as well, including Wye Oaks Jenn Wasner, Julianna Barwick, Beiruts Zach Condon, and Dessner himself.

No Pier Pressure

He is one of popular music's most deeply revered figures, a legendary writer, producer, arranger and performer of some of the most cherished music in pop music history. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to call Brian Wilson one of the most gifted and influential composers of the past 50 years. For the release of his 11th solo studio album, titled No Pier Pressure, Wilson has returned to Capitol Records, his original label home with The Beach Boys.

For the No Pier Pressure sessions, Brian Wilson reunited with longtime collaborator Joe Thomas, with whom he co-produced The Beach Boys' No. 3 Billboard album That's Why God Made The Radio for the iconic band's 50th anniversary reunion in 2012. In addition, Wilson was joined at Hollywood's Ocean Way Studios by talented musicians he personally invited to record with him, including his former Beach Boys bandmates Al Jardine, David Marks and Blondie Chaplin, as well as Kacey Musgraves, fun.'s Nate Ruess, She & Him's Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward, Peter Hollens, Capital Cities' Sebu Simonian, and trumpet master Mark Isham. Wilson has also brought in session all-stars Don Was, Jim Keltner, Dean Parks, and Kenny Aronoff. Members of Wilson's longtime touring band, including Scott Bennett, Paul Mertens, Darian Sahanaja, and Probyn Gregory also participated in the sessions, along with Matt Jardine, son of Al Jardine, and former bandmate Jeffrey Foskett.

Wilson and Thomas began collaborating on the new songs during The Beach Boys' whirlwind 50th anniversary activities throughout 2012, a banner year for the band which also included a GRAMMY® Award win for Brian for The Beach Boys' long-awaited SMiLE Sessions release. He told family, friends, and journalists around the world that he looked forward to returning to the studio when he got back home to California.

Always most inspired when creativity is given time and space to freely flow, Wilson initially envisioned the sessions for his new album with The Beach Boys in mind, but that was not to be. Wanting to find the right voices to complete his vision, Wilson saw an opportunity to finally become hip with his kids and recruited some amazing young vocalists who have been inspired by his music to do the job.

Throughout his iconic career, Wilson has brought ingenious vision to his own compositions, as well as to those for which he has collaborated, weaving a lush, vibrant tapestry of intricately nuanced vocal harmonies and instrumental arrangements for himself, his bandmates and others. For more than 50 years, fans have marveled at the sheer beauty of the music that springs forth from Wilson's imagination into glorious song.

Camped out at Ocean Way, Wilson took a fluid, woodshedding approach to the recording process, deftly tailoring the vocal and instrumental parts and arrangements to each participant. Wilson worked to hone the arrangements, often assembling pieces from various takes, a signature style of recording he has enjoyed since his earliest sessions with The Beach Boys. In fact, several of the songs were written during the recording process.

Brian Wilson began his career as a teenaged founding member of The Beach Boys, who signed with Capitol Records in July 1962 and released their first album, Surfin' Safari, that same year. The band's initial surf-rock focus was soon broadened to include other themes, and 1966's Pet Sounds is universally hailed as one of the greatest albums of all time. Wilson's innovative vocal and instrumental arrangements for major hits including "I Get Around," "California Girls," "Wouldn't It Be Nice," "God Only Knows," and the No. 1 smash "Good Vibrations" made The Beach Boys America's preeminent band of the 1960s.

Brian Wilson has also achieved great solo success with 10 of his own albums released to date, including his acclaimed 2004 completion of an album he first began recording in the '60s, Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE, which reached Billboard's Top 20 and earned him his first GRAMMY® Award for a recording. Wilson won his second GRAMMY Award® for producing The Beach Boys' acclaimed 2011 release, The SMiLE Sessions. Wilson has also performed major, sold-out SMiLE and Pet Sounds tours in recent years with his own band. Wilson is a Kennedy Center Honors recipient, a Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, and a UK Music Hall of Fame inductee. As a member of The Beach Boys, Wilson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and honored with The Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement GRAMMY® Award in 2001.

LP 11. This Beautiful Day2. Runaway Dancer [featuring Sebu Simonian]3. What Ever Happened [featuring Al Jardine and David Marks]4. On The Island [featuring She & Him]5. Our Special Love [featuring Peter Hollens]6. The Right Time [featuring Al Jardine and David Marks]7. Guess You Had To Be There [featuring Kacey Musgraves]8. Tell Me Why [featuring Al Jardine]

Apocalypse, girl

Think big, girl, like a king, think kingsize. Jenny Hval's new record opens with aquote from the Danish poet Mette Moestrup, and continues towards the abyss.Apocalypse, girl is a hallucinatory narrative that exists somewhere between fictionand reality, a post-op fever dream, a colorful timelapse of death and rebirth,close-ups of impossible bodies - all told through the language of transgressivepop music.

When Norwegian noise legend Lasse Marhaug interviewed Jenny Hval for hisfanzine in early 2014, they started talking about movies, and the conversationwas so interesting that she asked him to produce her next record. It turned outthat talking about film was a great jumping off point for album production.Hval's songs slowly expanded from solo computer loops and vocal edits to contributionsfrom bandmates Håvard Volden and Kyrre Laastad, before finallyexploding into collaborations with Øystein Moen (Jaga Jazzist/Puma), ThorHarris (Swans), improv cellist Okkyung Lee and harpist Rhodri Davis. All ofthese musicians have two things in common: they are fierce players with a greatear for intimacy, and they hear music in the closing of a suitcase as much as in abeautiful melody.

And so Apocalypse, girl is a very intimate, very visual beast. It dreams of an oldscience fiction movie where gospel choir girls are punks and run the world withauto-erotic impulses. It's a gentle hum from a doomsday cult, a soft desire forcollective devotion, an ode to the close-up and magnified, unruly desires.Jenny Hval has developed her own take on intimate sound since the release ofher debut album in 2006. Her work, which includes 2013's critically celebratedInnocence Is Kinky (Rune Grammofon), has gradually incorporated books, soundinstallations and collaborations with poets and visual artists. For Hval, languageis central, always torn between the vulnerable, the explosive and total humiliation.

New Interviews, Rare Photos, And Unseen Historical Documents From The Teo Macero Archive

One can hardly imagine Prince, Erykah Badu, or Outkast without the influence of Betty Davis. Her style of raw and revelatory punk-funk defies any notions that women can't be visionaries in the worlds of rock and pop. In recent years, rappers from Ice Cube to Talib Kweli have rhymed over her intensely strong but sensual music. Betty penned the song ''Uptown'' for The Chambers Brothers and wrote the tunes that got The Commodores signed to Motown. The Detroit label soon came calling, pitching a Motown songwriting deal, which Betty turned down. Motown wanted to own everything. Heading to the UK, Marc Bolan of T. Rex urged the creative dynamo to start writing for herself. A common thread throughout Betty's career would be her unbending DIY ethic, which made her quickly turn down anyone who didn't fit with the vision. She would eventually say no to Eric Clapton as her album producer, seeing him as too banal. In 1968, she married Miles Davis and quickly influenced him on the magic of psychedelic rock along with introducing him to Jimi Hendrix-personally inspiring the classic album, Bitches Brew.

Miles and Betty fans have long debated the truth of a near mythological session recorded in Studios B and E at Columbia's 52nd Street Studios on May 14th and 20th, 1969. The landmark session was produced by Miles and Teo Macero and featured Betty on vocals, accompanied by Jimi Hendrix Experience drummer Mitch Mitchell, guitarist John McLaughlin, Herbie Hancock on keys, and Dylan/Miles session bassist Harvey Brooks. Other players included bassist Billy Cox (Band of Gypsys), saxophonist Wayne Shorter, and organist Larry Young. Now, Light In The Attic, with full support from Betty herself, presents these recordings to the public for the very first time. These historic sessions-never heard, never bootlegged-predate Miles' revolutionary album, Bitches Brew, and are the true birth of Miles' jazz-rock explorations, along with the roots for Betty's groundbreaking funk that came years later, starting with her self-titled debut in 1973. While, ultimately, these recordings would go unreleased for nearly half a century, they would greatly shape each of their careers.

The vibe is intrinsically unique, fresh, and futuristic-jazz heavyweights playing psychedelia, rock, and jazz-fusion long before the term became commonplace. The songs include Betty originals and covers of classics by Creedence and Cream. The concepts explored on these previously unheard sessions fueled concepts that wouldn't be fully realized until years later with Miles' seminal On The Corner.

Additionally, included here is the first time rerelease of a 1968 Columbia single, recorded in October 1968 at Columbia Studios in Los Angeles. The session was produced by Jerry Fuller and featured South African maverick Hugh Masekela on trumpet and arrangements, plus members of jazz-funk pioneers The Crusaders-including trombonist Wayne Henderson and pianist Joe Sample. Two of the three tracks included here from this session are previously unreleased.

This deluxe package is a treasure trove for both Betty and Miles fans, including rare documents from the pen of co-producer Teo Macero, rarely seen photos from legendary photographer Baron Wolman, and new interviews with Mrs. Davis herself, Harvey Brooks, and Hugh Masekela-the entire project overseen with Betty's full blessing.

Personal Record

At a time when most female singer-songwriters perform as alter egos, Eleanor Friedberger is simply, refreshingly herself. And that's just the way her fans like it. Having spent the last decade fronting the indie-rock institution The Fiery Furnaces (currently on hiatus) with her brother Matthew, in 2011 she emerged as a formidable solo artist with Last Summer, a thoughtfully crafted tale of memory and place couched in the organic pop of her '70s idols. Instantly, Friedberger established herself as a modernday heir to the tradition of Donovan, Todd Rundgren, Ronnie Lane, and their ilk: warm, nuanced, timeless songs. No gimmicks necessary.

The title of Friedberger's sophomore album is Personal Record, and it is, in a sense. Personal, that is. But not personal in the way of, say, a coming-of-age record, or a diary about the past, which Last Summer was. Many of the songs seem to be about love, or love lost, but whether any of the experience is hers or someone else's, she isn't saying. "It's not as specific a narrative this time," she says. "There's a universality to it." So incisive are the lyrics, in fact, that Friedberger's bassist incorrectly assumed that two of the songs were about him. "I loved that," she says. "I want him to feel like the songs are about him. I want you to feel like the songs are about you."

1. I Don't Want to Bother You2. When I Knew3. I'll Never Be Happy Again4. Stare at the Sun5. Echo or Encore6. My Own World7. Tomorrow Tomorrow8. You'll Never Know Me9. I Am the Past10. She's a Mirror11. Other Boys12. Singing Time

Covered In Black

And they are glorious, beautiful. Sounding a bit like She & Him might were they produced by Sufjan Stevens - to create a sort of She & She & She & She, they are four alt-pop Brontës who beam right into your stereo like a comforting aural torch you never need to buy batteries for. - Drowned In Sound

"Best referenced midway between the Bangles and Go-Gos in terms of a girl group approach, there's a kind of slacker sensibility at work here, one that never muffles the drive or conviction. I was meant for something more, Cottingham sings on the final track, aptly entitled Anything and indeed a lyric has never sounded so true." - Blurt

Precociousness always catches its observer off guard; we are witness to a stubborn incongruity, a disproportionate relationship between limited years and elevated levels of skill, insight, or vision. It confounds common experience, and we wonder. When Ortolan's debut album Time On A String was released in 2010, three quarters of the family foursome were yet under drinking age. Along with copious kudos given to the quality of the music and the maturity of the songwriting, every single review made mention of their age. Wonder indeed.

What may be the greater marvel though, is when a nascent talent starts to grow into itself; when prodigious promise begins to deliver something beyond spectacle, when it begins to nourish those who are witness to it. Such is the case with Ortolan's latest, Covered In Black.

The pulse at the heart of Ortolan's music has always been Stephanie Cottingham's voice, a curious combination of innocence, wisdom, and wit (all rare commodities in the greater landscape of popular music today). These beguiling qualities remain, but here her voice is imbued with a greater richness. The bandwidth of color, hue, and shade has widened; the reds are redder and the blues are bluer. Even more significant though, is Cottingham's development as an interpreter of her own songs. Her voice remains a thing to behold, but in the tradition of Kitty Wells, Etta James, or Emmylou Harris, she is becoming a storyteller. Each note is now is its own scene in a greater drama. Each vocal push and lilt tells of loss and love, fear and friendship.

As much as Ortolan is about Stephanie Cottingham's voice and songwriting, it is about family, and the picture is incomplete without the powerful presence of Jill (keys), Briana (bass), and Lara (drums). Floor toms drum and drive, strumming guitars strum and strum faster, basses rock and keyboards swirl and swoop. Their commitment to one another is palpable, and is as important to the music as the notes and rhythms they're playing.

That their voices also join Stephanie's throughout the record is not insignificant. There is an excess of animosity in the world: so much time is spent competing, resisting, debating, conflicting, arguing. There is something so vital and humane in joining voicesfor once, in unison. One of the simplest and most powerful activities of human beings is singing together, and this is a central ingredient to Ortolan's music and life. Nothing is pretended-it's what they do: voices are raised and raised together -- to cry, to question, to pray, to laugh, to celebrate.

The color black is achieved through the mixing of different paints and opposing pigments; as such, black represents the presence of color, not the absence of it, and Ortolan's latest is covered in it.

Broken People

American music is a mile-wide river that beckons black and white, urban and rural, dreamer and doer alike to launch their vessels. All the streams of style and genre flow into it; its tributaries are blues and jazz, mountain and folk, rock, soul and R&B.

The release of the debut album by Muddy Magnolias, Broken People, marks the launch of a great new vessel onto that waterway. The album showcases a confluence of style and sound as colorful as it is unlikely, steeped in that river of influence, yet bracingly fresh.

With Broken People, Jessy Wilson and Kallie North take us on an 11-song journey with its origins in two widely divergent backgrounds that came together in a friendship and creative partnership with world-changing resonance.

North was raised in southeast Texas and began singing with her family and studying piano at an early age. She grew to love rich vocal harmonies singing in church choirs and listening to artists like the Carpenters, Alison Krauss, James Taylor and the Eagles. By her early teens, she was singing lead parts in church and in musical theater productions at her high school. Her palette grew when a friend turned her on to the Grateful Dead, and after high school she spent every spare moment in the clubs of Austin, absorbing everything from alt-country and jam bands to New Orleans funk. She met her husband at a concert and moved with him to his native Mississippi. There, on their isolated farm, she had her awakening, starting a career as a photographer, capturing the spirited, deep history of the Mississippi Delta.

"To me, the Delta is the most overlooked and mysterious place," she says. "It was the birthplace of America's music, and all the legends were influenced by everything that came out of it. I went on this personal exploration to learn about the Delta blues and the region's history. I picked up a camera and started taking pictures, blogging about what I was experiencing, and I tapped into all the creative energy lying dormant inside me." When her husband gave her a guitar, she began spending her days on the porch of their farm learning how to connect her first chords. From there, the songs began pouring out and she knew she had to find a way to get to Nashville and write songs professionally.

Wilson, raised in Brooklyn, was in love with music from her earliest days. She was singing before she could talk, and was 5 when her mother recognized her passion for music. "I would cry because I couldn't hit the high notes in Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey songs," she says. Influenced by greats from Aretha and Smokey Robinson to Lauryn Hill, Mary J. Blige and The Notorious B.I.G., she began auditioning in the highly competitive New York entertainment scene and was working professionally in musical theater by the age of 10. Her mother took her to nightclubs where she experienced a variety of live performances. She attended New York's top performing arts schools, including La Guardia High School, the "Fame" school, where she discovered her love for gospel music and took part in the gospel chorus for four years. She worked at Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village, making $500 a weekend while still in high school.

She sang backup for Alicia Keys in her teens, then worked four years with John Legend, and through him with legends like will.i.am, Kanye West, Raphael Saadiq and Babyface. Legend mentored her in songwriting and recording before she began writing songs on her own for American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino and others. Inspired by her evolving love of songwriting, she too moved to Nashville, looking for a wider creative palette. There, while meeting with then-BMI executive Clay Bradley, her eye settled on a photograph of "a rundown juke joint piano" in his office.

"I want to meet whoever took that photo," she said. The photographer was North-it had been taken during her creative awakening in Mississippi-and the subsequent meeting led quickly to collaboration and an epic friendship.

"The first day we wrote together," says North, "there wasn't much thought that we were blending genres and worlds. That never came up. It was just natural. She had never written a country song and I was writing them every day. We sat down to write one but when we listened back it was a country R&B song. And we decided to become songwriting partners." Before long, they had their first cut as collaborators, and they were off and running.

"The spirit of the Muddy Magnolias existed from the moment we met," says Wilson, "but we didn't know we were the Muddy Magnolias yet." North was toying with the idea of a solo career; Wilson had aspirations of making history as an African-American female songwriter in Nashville. Their new friendship was a game-changer.

"We spent a whole year writing, trying to understand what our message was when we combined our stories," says Wilson. Then one day over afternoon wine at Burger Up, their favorite hangout in the 12 South section of Nashville, both admitted to be being at a crossroads. "The next thing you know," says North, "Jessy said, 'What if we made a record together?' It was like all of our dreams in one."

"We went back to that same office on Music Row where I saw the photograph," says Wilson, "and sat down side by side in Clay's office and said, 'We've got something to tell you. We're going to make an album together.'" Bradley believed enough to sign on as their manager. They held three days of band auditions and found four best friends who had been playing together since college, primarily doing jazz. The fit was perfect, providing just the right sonic backdrop for their soulful approach and high-energy delivery.

As they continued to write and perform, opening for the likes of The Zac Brown Band and Gary Clark, Jr., they put together a project that crosses genres effortlessly, showcasing two voices that soar together in a blending of cultures as electrifying as if Janis Joplin and Tina Turner, or Whitney Houston and Lee Ann Womack had joined forces.

Broken People combines poetic imagery and vocal passion, with the musicianship and production of Motown or Muscle Shoals by way of the raw honesty of Sun Records. Of course it deals with love, longed for and unleashed, in songs like "I Need A Man," "Why Don't You Stay" and "Devil's Teeth," but the album soars as it reaches for bigger themes, dealing with the need for hope in "Take Me Home," for love on a societal scale in "Shine On" and "Brother What Happened," and hope for the future in "Got It Goin' On." With "Leave It To The Sky," the two, joined by John Legend on vocals and piano, make a powerful case for spiritual solutions, and few songs in the modern lexicon are as steeped in present-day reality as the gospel- and R&B-tinged title track.

"Ultimately," says North, "this album is a result of an unlikely friendship and is a testament to what can happen when you diversify your relationships."

"It's about getting out of your comfort zone and being rewarded with a great friendship," adds Wilson. "We've both felt the power of that."

"Our path is so much better and our lives are so much richer because of it," says North, "and we want to bring people along on this journey."

"We want to see what society would be like if we all reached out in ways we normally wouldn't," adds Wilson.

And that is the magic and the message. The music of Muddy Magnolias, live and on record, comes from a place where the Mississippi meets the A-Train by way of Nashville. Whether yours is the back porch or the front stoop, Spanish moss or window box garden, dusty country lane or crowded subway car, rural honky-tonk or uptown club, this is music that beckons. Muddy Magnolias are collaboration without boundaries, musical healing in a landscape of the heart, and all of us who treasure creative energy, honest art and the possibilities of love and unity, are better for their arrival.

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